Clutch mechanism



am. m i i EDWARD TOMAN, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

CLUTCH MECHANISM.

Application led J'uly 16, 1919, Serial No. 311,333. Renewed August 2.5,1922. Serial. No. 584,230.

' T0 all whom t may concern:

Be it known that l, EDWARD Toi/IAN, a

i citizen of the United States, and a resident of Chicago, in the countyof Cook andState of Illinois, have invented certain new andusefullmprovements in a Clutch Mecha'- nisin, of which thefollowing is adescription, reference being had to the accompanying ldrawing, whichforms apart of my specification.

" My invention relates to a safety device driven washing machinesintended for domestic use; and the invention has for its object theprovision of a construction whereby the power-transmitting mechanism forthe wringer, which is usually attached to machines of the class referredto, may be under the absolute control of the operator and thev power tothe wringer immediately shut off at .the will of the operator, o-rthrough the change of the operators position.

Theobject of my invention is to provide aconstruction whereby the powerto the wringer will be so controlled, that in the event the-fingers ofthe operator are caught between the rollers of the wringer, the operator need merely shift position or liftv the foot, with the resultthat theY power will be imediately shut oif from the wringer andcrushing of the fingers or hand prevented. As both hands of the operatorare frequently employed in passing the clothes through the wringer, itis essential to provide mechanism which may ,be otherwise operated thanby hand in order that the operation of the wringer will at all times beunder control of the operator; a-ndy for that purpose l. provide afoot-operated device which automatic-ally assumes normal or inoperativeposition when the foot of the operator is withdrawn therefrom.

The purposes and advantages of my construction will be moreJ -readilycomprehended from the following detailed description of the drawing,wherein vFigure 1 is a side elevation o f a type of power-operatedwashing machine with` a power-operated wringer and provided with myimproved safety device; portions of the operating mechanism shown insection.

-Figure 2 is an enlarged detail View, partially in section, illustratinga portion of the foot-control mechanism or lever.

Figure 3 is a detail sectional view of the clutch mechanism whereby thepower-imparting shaft of the wringer is brought into operative 'relationwith the main driving shaft of the machine.

In the exemplification of the invention, l have shown a well known typeof powerdriven washing machine, in side elevation, at 10, provided withan electrical motor illustrated at 11, the power-shaft 12 whereof isshown provided ,with a suitable gear 13 meshingA with a gear 14 which issecured to a sectional driven shaft 15. The gears 13 and 14.- areencased in a suitable housing, as at y16, all ofwhich is properlysupported on the side of the washing machine.v

The sectional driven shaft is vertically dis osed, `with the lowersection provided wit 1 a gear 17 which meshes with a gear secured to thelaterally disposed driven shaft 18 which drives the cylinder within thewashing machine, through the medium vof suitable gearing, usually of analternating or reversing type, enclosed in the housing or casing 19 atthe side of the washing machine in alignment with the spindle ortrunnion of `the cylinder. rlhe vertically disposed sectional drivenshaft 15 is preferably shown extended through the housing 20, with` the..upper end of the lower section provided with a female member-.21 of afriction clutch secured thereto in any suitable manner, as for exampleby' the pin 21a,

see Figure 3, which causes the female inem- 'ber'21, to constantlyrotate with the lower section of the vertically disposed. driven shaft15. The lower section of the driven shaft 15 is intended to havelongitudinal or vertical movement and for'that reason lthe gear 17. -isslidably feathered on the lower shaft section so as to permit the lowershaft section to slide throu h the gear 17 and at the same time cause te gear to constantly rotate therewith.

The female member 21 on its" upper side is lprovided with an inwardlytapered peripheral surface 22 corresponding with the taper or bevel ofthe male member or cone 23, so as to permit the vlatter to come intofrictioalyrelation with `the inwardly tapered peripheral surface 22 whenthe lower section of the driven shaft 15 is forced upwardly. The cone ormale member 23 is secured to the upper section y15a of the driven shaft15l in any suitable manner, as for example by the pin 24, so as to causethe upper shaftsection lato rotate with extends into a. countersunkportion or dethe members 21 and 23 in the separated, in-

operativehrelation shown in Figure 3, when upward pressure on the lowershaft-section 15 has been removed.

The upper shaft-section 15fL leads to the wringer indicated at'27 inFigure 1, and by means of suitable gearing not shown, butenclosed withinthe housing 28, operates the rollers of the wringer when operativerelation betweenv the shaft-sections 15, 15a is established.

The lower end of the lower shaft-section 15 extends through the housing16 and has rotative bearing in a suitable bracket 29 secured to the sideof the washing machine as shown in .Figure 1. The bracket 29 ispreferably provided with the separated lobes or ears 30 so as to receivea fulcrum member 31 therebetween and therefore maintain the member 31 inposition but at the same timepermit member 31 to oscil-A late about theend of the lower shaft-section 15. i e

The lower shaft-section 15 -is disposed beyond the lower side of thebracket 29, see Figures 1 and 2, so as to be inlcontact with afoot-lever 32. rfhe fpot-lever is preferably made in two sections withits inner section fulcrumed at 33 on the. fulcrum member 31 so as topermit vertical oscillation of the lever; and the two sections ofr the4foot-lever are pivotally connected together at 34 so as to permit theouter end or foot-receiving section to be swung uprefine-is shown Tanddescribed, in order to provide operative relation between the drivenshaftsections 15, 15a so as to transmit power to the wringer, theoperator must depress footlever 32 and maintain the lever inthe de- 70pressed position toA force and maintain the lowershaft-section 15upward, against the action of gravity as well as the action of spring 26and thereby bring the clutchelements 21 and 23 into frictional andoper-W5 ative relation with each other. When clutch elements 21 and 23are y,held in frictional relation, power will be transmitted to theupper shaft-section 15a by the.con stantly rotating lower shaft-section15 80 which is driven by the power shaft 12 through the operation of themotor. With this construction, it is evident that the moment theoperators foot is taken off Jof foot-lever 32, the lower shaft-section15 85 through leXcitement,-have been unable to shut off the power intime to prevent injury.`

lt is apparent that with my construction, thel power to the wringer isunder the control of the operator regardless of the position of thehands, as the mere excitement will in itself induce the operator toshift position or liftt the foot off of foot-lever 32, when the spring26 will force the clutch elements 21 `and 23 105 into separated,inoperative relation, with Y the result that further rotation of therollers of tl'ie'wringer will immediately stop.

With the lfulcrum member 31 'oscillatingly mounted between `the lobes orears of the bracket member 29 and with the foot lever 32 composed of thepivoted sections, the fulcrum member and foot-lever may be swung intoany position desired and may also be moved out of the'way when. not inopera- 115 tion.

ll: have illustrated and described my improved construction as moreIespecially i adapted for use on power-driven-washing machines, but it isevident that my invention V may be applied to any power-driven deviceand injury Vto the hands of'the operator i thereby prevented; and whileI have shown f and described what I believe to bethe simplest embodimentofthe invention, it is ap- .125 parent that it is susceptible ofmodifications embodying the'spirit off my invention.`

v1. Clutch mechanism \of the class described, comprising a shaftconsisting of two i ,sections arranged in alignment, one section beingadapted to have longitudinal movement, a clutch, one portion or elementwhereof is secured to the adjacent ends of each section of said shaftwhereby operative relation between the two sections may be eected, abracket member mounted adjacent the opposite end of said longitudinallymovable section of said shaft, a itulcrum` member o scillatingly mountedon said bracket member, and a foot-lever fulcrumed ony said fulcrummember with the inner end of the foot-lever'in operative relation withthe y' 'end of said movable section of the shaft whereby pressure on thefoot-lever will cause said longitudinally movable section of the shaftwith its clutch element to be forced linto operative relation with theclutch element of the other section of said shaft.

2. ln a clutch mechanism of the class described, the combination of avertically disposed shaft made in two sections arranged in alignment,the lower section being adapted to have longitudinal movement, the ad-.jacent ends of the sections of said shaft being each provided with aclutch element whereby the two sections of said shaft may be broughtinto operative relation, a spring disposed intermediate of the clutchelements and normally tending to maintain'the latter in separatedrelation, a fulcrum member os` cillatingly mounted to swing laterallywhile the free end thereof yis disposed to one side of the longitudinalaxis of. the lower shaft section, and a ootlever fulcrumed intermediateof its'ends, at the free end of said lfulcrum member, so as to have theinner end of the foot-lever in operative contact with the lower end ofIthe lower section of said shaft whereby downwardpressure' on the'foot-lever will cause said lower section of said shaft to move upwardlyagainst the action of said spring and force the clutch elements intoclutching engagement with each other. l

3. In a clutch mechanism of the class de- 'scribed, the combination of avertically disposed shaft .made in two sections, the lower section beingmounted to Ahave longitudinal movement, a cone-shaped clutch elementsecured to the end of the upper section to rotate therewith, with thelower face of the cone-shaped element being provided with aI ablefrictional relation between the elements to be eiected, with a u'lcrummember disposed adjacent the lower section of said shaft, and a footlever fulcrumed on said fulcrum member with the inner end thereof incontact with the lower end of the shaft section so that downwardpressure on the foot leverwill force the lower shaft section with itsclutch element upwardly against the action of the spring and causefrictional relation between the clutch elements.

EDWARD I0-MAN. W'itnesses:

G. HEIDMAN, JF,- A. FLORELL.

